Abandonment & Renunciation and the Difference Between Them – Bhagavad Gita, Ch 18, Vs 1-2

Abandonment & Renunciation

I am treating this chapter of the Bhagavad Gita based on the ancient, original God-practice, which I call Shaktipat Kundalini Yoga, or Surrender Meditation (I doubt it originally had a name that long ago — over 40 thousand years!). This does not mean that I see other translations as invalid or wrong, but we already have many editions from this perspective, and we have none that represent this branch of original Yoga.

There are two original branches of Yoga: One that was understood by means of seeing it practiced, and one that was understood by means of the oral teachings of the one who was seen practicing it.

From the branch relying on observation, techniques were born. From the branch relying on the experience of the one who was seen, the surrender of oneself to God/Truth was employed exclusively. It is this surrender to Absolute God/Truth in meditation that has been virtually unknown and kept hidden from the masses for millennia. This Surrender Yoga is my own path, so I will be addressing these verses from this perspective.

1
Arjuna spoke:
I wish to know the truth about renunciation, O Mighty Armed One, and of abandonment, Master of the Senses, and the difference between the two, Vanquisher of Demons.

Abandonment - Give it to God — Give Yourself to God

Here we have three epitaphs for Lord Krishna: Master of the Senses, which is associated with abandonment, Mighty Armed One, which is associated with renunciation, and Vanquisher of Demons, which is associated with victory over that-which-is-other-than-Divine, by means of abandonment and renunciation.

We learned about good and evil in chapter sixteen, and followed it up with Faith in chapter seventeen. Now we are in a chapter about renunciation, and Arjuna want’s to know how this is different from abandonment — he wants to get it right so that his knowledge is true and divine knowledge.

Interestingly, Arjuna’s use of these epitaphs reminds us of his innate ability to see the Truth (chapter one) without even realizing what he is seeing. Through his Guru’s grace however, his inner Knowing is brought forth. Like you, Arjuna already knows the Truth and only has to awaken to it.

You already know everything. You have but to learn what you know.

2
The Blessed Lord spoke:
According to the wise, the abandonment of desire-motivated actions is renunciation, and the abandonment of the fruits of actions, is abandonment.

Surrender — Leave everything to God in meditation.

According to the wise (vichakṣhaṇa) – clear-sighted and wise through learning and experience.

Abandonment (tyaga) – the abandonment of the results of action.

Renunciation (sanyasa) – the abandonment of desire-motivated action.

Everything we do is motivated by desire. Renunciation then, boils down to non-doing. But how can we actually accomplish this?

Spontaneous Action in Surrender Meditation — Spontaneous Action

We can start with Abandonment — we surrender all the things our actions produce to God/Truth. This is the abandonment of the fruits of action, which is something we can easily practice anytime, anywhere. Then, through meditation practiced correctly, we can let God take over and not take the credit or blame for anything that happens in our meditation. Now our meditation is a period of Renunciation.

The only reason this is not easy to do is because the mind, with the ego at its core, will always try to take the lead role and convince you that you were the one doing all those actions. Then, even though you know better, because you feel like you were the doer of these actions, you may believe there must be something wrong with you. These tricks of the ego are best ignored.

Everything we do is motivated by desire.

But we learned in previous chapters that this is the ‘demon’ ego tricking you into thinking that you are the one doing the action. But the real doer of action is always Nature. So this is the thing to remember.

We start all this simply by surrendering the ‘fruits’, or results, of our desire-motivated actions to God/Truth in meditation.

Now we have two practices: One that can be practiced outside of meditation (abandonment) in our daily lives, and one that takes place in meditation (renunciation).

If we are willing to take a chance on God and surrender ourselves to God in meditation, we can easily accept whatever God brings. We have let go of desires and expectations for certain results (abandonment) and now we are truly free for the duration of our meditation. Thus begins the God-practice we have been taught over and over, again and again, in this Gita. Through your experience with it, you will come to see that the Real You is never the doer of action.

All action occurs in Nature, and you are not Nature. You are You. Period.

Having gained experience through this meditation, you will ultimately reach this realization on your own. You are a renunciate now, already established in abandonment, and you are headed for Divine Union and Liberation.

Namaste (I bow to the divine one that you really are),
Durga Ma
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OM TAT SAT, Continued – Bhagavad Gita, Ch 17 Vs 24-28

Self and Other-than-self

Previously:
(23) As recalled from ancient times, it said that OM TAT SAT indicates Absolute God as manifested in Brahmanas (God-people), scriptures and sacrifice (surrender to God).

OM for Divine Union

24
Because of this, according to scriptural injunction, acts of sacrifice, giving and austerity are always begun by uttering the syllable “OM” by those who seek Absolute God.

Absolute God (Brahman) – The highest aspect of God as Absolute, which is different than God’s inferior, or relative, nature as earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and ego.

God-people (brahmans) – knowers and practitioners of the Highest Knowledge.

“Because of this” refers to the previous verse on the subject of OM TAT SAT.

“Begun by uttering the syllable “OM” because it is the generation of Creation.

OM, the sound of Creation, is heard in meditation. It is the sacred Sanskrit syllable that is the sound of Creation. It is the is the first of the three syllables OM TAT and SAT, and the first aspect of God, so it is used primarily for beginnings.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Sacrifice (surrender) is the giving of oneself to Absolute God in meditation. This initiates the process of tapas (warming) that purifies body, mind and feelings, and leads to the Highest Union, union with Absolute God/Truth.

Giving (the offering). When you surrender to God in meditation, WHAT you surrender is what you are giving in offering. Giving to deserving persons such as yogis, the poor, and doing selfless service to the guru, empowers one’s surrender (sacrifice).

Austerity (tapas) is the result. When you surrender yourself to God/Truth in meditation, tapas will soon begin spontaneously. Tapas, which means ‘warming or heating’, begins after a period of feeling cold in meditation. When it arrives it begins to burn away impurities of body, feelings and mind.

TAT for Liberation

25
With “TAT”, and without any expectation of personal benefit, acts of sacrifice, austerity and giving of various kinds are performed by those seeking liberation (from the cycles of death and rebirth).

Tat means ‘that’, suggesting that this syllable has to do with Others — ‘That which is Other than self’.

Tat also signifies ‘without aiming for fruits’. ‘Tat’, or Thatness, puts everything apart from self, so that desires, preconceived ideas and expectations are not associated with self, thus making Liberation possible. This is another way of saying…

If you seek Liberation, cut away all attachments to the fruits of actions.

SAT for the Eternally Existent Real & Good

26 – 27
In its meaning of Reality and Goodness, the word “SAT” describes the Absolute as well as those who seek It, and also applies to auspicious action. Unwavering in the performance of sacrifice, austerity and giving, and also any action performed for or relating to this, is SAT.

Sat means ‘that which Truly Exists, is Real and Good’ — God, Truth, the Absolute, the True Self, the Real You.

Goodness is a quality of the Absolute. The Absolute, being without duality, is thus eternal and unchanging. Thus is Goodness also eternal and unchanging (there is no flip side).

Auspicious action is action that is performed prompted by one’s longing for Union with the Real, the Good, the Absolute. This is the meaning of ‘God-practice’ as mentioned earlier.

28
Any sacrificial offering, austerity (tapas) or giving performed without faith is called “ASAT” — not Real, not Imperishable, and bears no auspicious results for us here in this world or in the next.

We are being told that not living our lives in this way, and not following these teachings with understanding followed by action, nothing Good can come of it. We will be wasting our lives, and our purpose here will remain unfulfilled. But we are also being told that this is easily and pleasantly remedied.

Namaste (I bow to the divine one that you really are),
Durga Ma
durgama.com

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On February 16, 2019February 17, 2019 By Durga MaIn Ancient Mystical Writings, Bhagavad GitaLeave a comment

OM TAT SAT, Bhagavad Gita, Ch 17, Vs 23

OM TAT SAT

23
As recalled from ancient times, it said that OM TAT SAT indicates Absolute God as manifested in Brahmanas (God-people), scriptures and sacrifice.

Absolute God (Brahman) – The highest aspect God as Absolute (which is differentiated from God’s inferior or relative nature appearing as earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and ego).

God-people (brāhmaṇās) – knowers and practitioners of the Highest Knowledge.

Scriptures (veda) – texts on Truth containing the Highest Knowledge.

Sacrifice (yajñā), the God-practice of God-people: the surrender of oneself to Brahman (Absolute God).

OM, the Sound of Everyone Everywhere

OM is the vibratory phenomena that Creates. OM is produced by the dual situation of Divine Individuals ‘knowing’, or perceiving, other Divine Individuals. Singularly, this is You and Other-than-You: You see Another, Another sees You. The result is vibration. The result of vibration is Creation.

Vibration perceived, is sound. OM is the only sound that contains all tones equally, just as all Divine Individuals are equally the same. Sound in this case, is the sound of all tones as one tone, the sound of OM (AUM).

Every tone, no matter what it is, consists of all tones. The only difference between one tone and another tone is the order in which all tones are arranged. Tone, then, is in itself, Divine.

God/Truth as all of Us is the sound of OM.

TAT

TAT, which means ‘that’, refers to Otherness — other Divine Individuals. With OM Creation began. It began because of your knowing Another, Tat.

TAT refers to Truth as Other-than-You.

SAT

SAT means ‘existent’ and ‘real’. That You exist, and that you know You exist, is what made Creation possible — once you became Self-aware (aware of your existence), you discovered Others (TAT). Now you are in Creation being a Being, and have forgotten your Self and how you got here. While TAT refers to Truth as Others…

SAT refers to Truth as You — the Real You.

OM, TAT SAT

OM TAT SAT is a remembered teaching (smṛiti) passed down to us through millennia. You have forgotten your Real Self and how you got here. Remembering OM TAT SAT will show you the way Home.

God-people, Scriptures and Sacrifice

God-people having heard the sacred sound of OM directly, were those who originally came to know Truth as Absolute God, and themselves as the same as That — TAT. This is why we are all here: to become God-people — God-realized, Self-realized: SAT.

“Having heard the sacred sound of OM directly” means that the sound of OM is heard without any means — without the ears, without the mind, without any via. This occurs in spontaneously in Surrender Meditation. It is thrilling, blissful and inspiring.

Scriptures are written texts on Truth and how to become God-realized. They were written by God-people in ancient times. They did this so that we can also know what they know. These authors are reaching Others, TAT, us, accepting us as the same as themselves knowing that this is in itself, Truth, and the Knowledge Sacrifice.

Sacrifice was discovered by God-people as the means of reaching the Highest Goal that exists eternally as Real and True Goodness: SAT. Sacrifice means surrender — surrender to what is Divine that is Other than self, TAT. While the scriptures were the Knowledge Sacrifices of those who wrote them, these God-people share with us through their writings, how to understand sacrifice as the surrender of oneself to Absolute God. This is the God-practice of God-people. It is how they came to know Absolute God/Truth in the first place.

These three Sanskrit syllables, OM TAT SAT, three aspects of the Absolute, are known to God-people and found in scriptures. They have existed from Creation, OM.

Om Tat Sat (All of Us, Others, and You — I bow to the divine one that you really are),
Durga Ma
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